“Playfulness and creativity go together like music and dance – one sets the other in motion.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 312 The Summer 2026 issue of The Musician’s Way Newsletter has landed in subscribers’ inboxes and is being widely shared. Featuring...
“Music making is a never-ceasing process of change and progress.” –Jacqueline du Pré, cellist The Musician’s Way, p. 205 If you aspire to perform as an independent musician, whether solo or in small groups, this article will help you stay ahead of change and be...
“Wherever you hope to travel on your musical journey, practice is the only route to getting there.” The Musician’s Way – p. 3 People often refer to accomplished musicians as “talented,” but research shows that artistic and technical abilities...
“If you have a passion for music, I hope that these pages will be a beacon on your journey toward limitless artistic growth.” The Musician’s Way, p. vi To succeed at university-level music studies, newly enrolled students require skills to practice and perform,...
“For you to achieve your promise as a performing artist, you need a profound understanding of performance preparation.” The Musician’s Way, p. 154 We music educators know how rewarding it is to teach instrumental or vocal performance. We also know that teaching can be...
“Ultimately, your musical progress will depend more on your skillfulness with the creative process than on any talent.” –The Musician’s Way, p. 313 When I teach introductory workshops on The Musician’s Way, I organize concepts using frameworks that musicians can...
“I took lessons as a kid, but it was mostly just practicing scales, and it seemed more like homework… I gave piano lessons three attempts – the first time when I was a kid… Then, when I was sixteen… but it was still the same scales…...
“Meaning, not originality, is what matters most in your day-to-day practice.” -The Musician’s Way, p. 312 Psychologist and author Eric Maisel writes about three types of meaning that people experience in life. One is received meaning, the kind that’s...
“It’s very gratifying to improvise in front of people. I feel I’m including them in what I’m doing, taking them someplace they might like to go and haven’t been before.” -Jim Hall, guitarist The Musician’s Way, p. 102 Improvisation is the most playful way that we can...
